Alton man facing four felony drug charges after raid at Pearl Street house

ALTON — An Alton police and ILEAS raid of a Pearl Street home last week resulted in authorities charging a resident of the house Monday with four drug-related felonies.

The Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Robert L. Horton, 34, of the 1200 block of Pearl Street, with unlawful delivery of a controlled substance while located within 1,000 feet of a park; two counts of unlawful manufacture/delivery/possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance while located within 1,000 feet of a park; and unlawful possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, all related to cocaine.

Associate Judge Neil Schroeder set bond of $200,000.

The warrant says Horton delivered more than 1 gram but less than 15 grams of a substance containing cocaine within 1,000 feet of Hellrung Park; twice delivered less than 1 gram of a substance containing cocaine within 1,000 feet of Hellrung Park; and intended to deliver 1 gram or more, but less than 15 grams of the illegal substance, all allegedly happening between Oct. 17, 2016 and Feb. 3, 2017.

Hellrung Park is located between Union and Pearl streets east of Ridge Street and west of Gold Street.

At about 8:55 a.m. Friday, a convoy of three large personnel and equipment transport trucks from the Alton Police Department — its BEAR (Ballistic Engineered Armored Response) — Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System vehicle and the Madison County Sheriff’s Department BEAR Cat, and police cars, arrived at Horton’s house, taking him into custody.

The heavily fortified contingent also removed a woman and children from the residence and carried out a drug-related search warrant, which a detective said yielded evidence related to the investigation.